Martha (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: מָרְתָא) is a
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
figure described in the
Gospels of
Luke
People
* Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
* Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known ...
and
John. Together with her siblings
Lazarus and
Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of
Bethany near
Jerusalem. She was witness to
Jesus resurrecting her brother,
Lazarus.
Etymology of the name
The name ''Martha'' is a
Latin transliteration of the
Koine Greek Μάρθα, itself a translation of the
Aramaic מָרְתָא ''Mârtâ,'' "the mistress" or "the lady", from מרה "mistress," feminine of מר "master." The Aramaic form occurs in a
Nabatean inscription found at
Puteoli
Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula.
History
Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...
, and now in the
Naples Museum
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples ( it, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, italic=no, sometimes abbreviated to MANN) is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for ancient Roman remains. Its collection includes wor ...
; it is dated AD 5 (Corpus Inscr. Semit., 158); also in a
Palmyrene inscription, where the Greek translation has the form ''Marthein.''
[Pope, Hugh]
"St. Martha"
The Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1919.
Biblical references
In the
Gospel of Luke, Jesus
visits the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha. The two sisters are contrasted: Martha was "encumbered about many things" while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the better part", that of listening to the master's discourse.
["Mary"](_blank)
Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897. The name of their village is not recorded, nor (unlike in John 11:18) is there any mention of whether Jesus was near Jerusalem. Biblical commentator
Heinrich Meyer
Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the ''New Testament'' and published an edition of that book.
Biography
Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, ...
notes that "Jesus cannot yet be in
Bethany, where Martha and Mary dwelt
ccording to John's Gospel. But the
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologia ...
claims that it was "undoubtedly Bethany".
In the
Gospel of John, Martha and Mary appear in connection with two incidents: the
raising from the dead of their brother Lazarus (John 11) and the
anointing of Jesus
The anointings of Jesus’s head or feet are events recorded in the four gospels. The account in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12 takes place on the Holy Wednesday of Holy Week at the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, a village in Judaea ...
in Bethany (John 12:3).
In the account of the raising of Lazarus, Jesus meets with the sisters in turn: Martha followed by Mary. Martha goes immediately to meet Jesus as he arrives, while Mary waits until she is called. As one commentator notes, "Martha, the more aggressive sister, went to meet Jesus, while quiet and contemplative Mary stayed home. This portrayal of the sisters agrees with that found in Luke 10:38–42."
In speaking with Jesus, both sisters lament that he did not arrive in time to prevent their brother's death: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died". But where Jesus' response to Mary is more emotional, his response to Martha is one of teaching, calling her to hope and faith:
As the narrative continues, Martha calls her sister Mary to see Jesus. Jesus has Mary bring him to Lazarus' tomb where he commands the stone to be removed from its entrance. Martha here objects, "But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days", to which Jesus replies, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?". They then take away the stone and Jesus prays and calls Lazarus forth alive from the tomb.
Martha appears again in John 12:1–8, where she serves at a meal held in Jesus' honor at which her brother is also a guest. The narrator only mentions that the meal takes place in Bethany, while the apparently parallel accounts in the Gospels of
Matthew and
Mark specify that it takes place at the home of one
Simon the Leper
Simon the Leper (Greek: Σίμων ὁ λεπρός, ''Símōn ho leprós'') is a biblical figure who lived in Bethany, a village in Judaea on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives. He is mentioned in the Gospels according to Matthew and M ...
. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "We are surely justified in arguing that, since Matthew and Mark place the scene in the house of Simon, St. John must be understood to say the same; it remains to be proven that Martha could not 'serve' in Simon's house."
It is at this meal that a woman (Martha's sister Mary, according to John)
anoints Jesus with expensive perfume.
Western traditions
In medieval
Western Christianity, Martha's sister Mary was often equated with
Mary Magdalene. This identification led to additional information being attributed to Martha as well:
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are represented by St. John as living at Bethania, but St. Luke would seem to imply that they were, at least at one time, living in Galilee; he does not mention the name of the town, but it may have been Magdala
Magdala (Aramaic: מגדלא, ''Magdala'', meaning "tower"; Hebrew: , ''Migdal''; ar, المجدل, ''al-Majdal'') was an ancient Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magda ...
, and we should thus, supposing Mary of Bethania and Mary Magdalene to be the same person, understand the appellative "Magdalene". The words of St. John (11:1) seem to imply a change of residence for the family. It is possible, too, that St. Luke has displaced the incident referred to in Chapter 10. The likeness between the pictures of Martha presented by Luke and John is very remarkable. The familiar intercourse between the Saviour of the world and the humble family which St. Luke depicts is dwelt on by St. John when he tells us that "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus" (11:5). Again the picture of Martha's anxiety (John 11:20–21, 39) accords with the picture of her who was "busy about much serving" (Luke 10:40); so also in John 12:2: "They made him a supper there: and Martha served." But St. John has given us a glimpse of the other and deeper side of her character when he depicts her growing faith in Christ's Divinity (11:20–27), a faith which was the occasion of the words: "I am the resurrection and the life." The Evangelist has beautifully indicated the change that came over Martha after that interview: "When she had said these things, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying: The Master is come, and calleth for thee."
Eastern Orthodox tradition
In
Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, though not specifically named as such in the gospels, Martha and Mary were among the
Myrrh-bearing Women. These faithful followers of Jesus stood at
Golgotha
Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...
during the
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consider ...
and later came to his tomb early on the morning following
Sabbath with
myrrh (expensive oil), according to the Jewish tradition, to anoint their Lord's body. The
Myrrhbearers
In Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition the Myrrhbearers (Greek: Μυροφόροι; Latin: ''Myrophorae''; Slavonic: Жены́-мѷроно́сицы; ro, mironosiţe) are the individuals mentioned in the New Testament who were directly in ...
became the first witnesses to the
Resurrection of Jesus, finding the empty tomb and hearing the joyful news from an angel.
Orthodox tradition also relates that Martha's brother Lazarus was cast out of Jerusalem in the persecution against the Jerusalem Church following the martyrdom of
St. Stephen
Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...
. His sister Martha fled Judea with him, assisting him in the proclaiming of the Gospel in various lands, while Mary Magdalene remained with
John the Apostle
John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebedee ...
and assisted him with the Church of Jerusalem.
According to Cyprian tradition, Lazarus and Martha later came to
Cyprus, where Lazarus became the first Bishop of Kittim (modern
Larnaca
Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 14 ...
). All three died in
Cyprus.
Veneration
Martha is venerated as a
saint in the
Roman Catholic Church and the
Eastern Orthodox Church, and commemorated by the
Lutheran Church and the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
.
Through time, as the reverence for St. Martha developed, the images of maturity, strength, common sense, and concern for others predominated.
Feast days
The
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
celebrates the feast day Martha,
Mary of Bethany and her brother
Lazarus of 29 July. The feast of Martha, classified as a "semi-double" in the
Tridentine Calendar, became a "simple" one in the
General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII
In 1955, Pope Pius XII made several changes to the General Roman Calendar of 1954; those changes remained in force until 1960, when Pope John XXIII decreed a new revision of the General Roman Calendar (see General Roman Calendar of 1960). The chang ...
, a "third class feast" in the
General Roman Calendar of 1960, and a
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...
in the present
General Roman Calendar.
The
Eastern Orthodox and
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople.
The canonical hours are ...
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...
commemorate Martha and her sister Mary on 4 June. They also commemorate them collectively among the
Myrrh-bearing Women on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers (the Third Sunday of
Pascha — i.e., the second Sunday after Easter Sunday). Martha also figures in the commemorations of
Lazarus Saturday
, observedby = Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Christians
, date = Variable
, date =
, date =
, date =
, relatedto = Raising of Lazarus, Great Lent, Palm Sunday
, frequency=Annual
Lazarus Saturday in Eastern Christianity (consisting of the East ...
(the day before
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy ...
).
Martha is commemorated on 29 July in the
Calendar of Saints
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context doe ...
of the
Lutheran Church, together with Mary and Lazarus and in the
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context doe ...
of the
Episcopal Church.
Martha is
remembered (with
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...
and
Lazarus) in the
Church of England with a
Lesser Festival Lesser Festivals are a type of observance in the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, considered to be less significant than a Principal Feast, Principal Holy Day, or Festival, but more significant than a Commemoration. Whereas Prin ...
on
29 July.
Legacy
The
Sisters of St. Martha
The Sisters of St. Martha were founded as a religious congregation in 1900 at Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The Sisters of St. Martha are members of the Sisters of Charity Federation.
History
The Sisters of St. Martha were formally established as a re ...
are a
religious congregation
A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religi ...
founded in
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1894.
Churches
A number of churches are dedicated to St. Martha including:
*Roman Catholic churches
* Europe:
***
Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon
Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon or Collégiale Royale Sainte-Marthe is a collegiate church in Tarascon, France, dedicated to Saint Martha. It is where, according to a local tradition, the biblical figure Martha is buried.
History
Collegiat ...
in
Tarascon
Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Taras ...
, France;
** United States:
***
St. Martha Catholic Church
St. Martha Catholic Church is a parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago located in Morton Grove, Illinois.
History
German-speaking Catholic immigrants from Luxembourg had gathered for worship at least since 1866, initially traveling to Gross Pointe ...
in
Morton Grove, Illinois, and others in
East Providence, Rhode Island;
Valinda, California
Valinda is a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, in the United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 22,822, up from 21,776 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Valinda is located at (34. ...
;
Kingwood, Texas
Kingwood is a 14,000 acre (57 km²) master-planned community located in northeast Houston, Texas, United States. The majority of the community is located in Harris County with a small portion in Montgomery County. Known as the "Livable F ...
;
Harvey, Louisiana
Harvey is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Harvey is on the south side (referred to as the "West Bank") of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans– Metairie– Kenner metropolitan stat ...
;
Plainville, Massachusetts
Plainville is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,945 at the time of the 2020 census. Plainville is part of the Boston and Providence metropolitan areas.
History
Originally included in a 1635 grant of ...
; and
Prestonsburg, Kentucky
** Asia
***
Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasig
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pasig ( lat, Dioecesis Pasiginae; fil, Diyosesis ng Pasig) is the diocese of the Latin rite of the Catholic Church in the Philippines that comprises the cities of Pasig and Taguig, and the municipality of Pateros, ...
:
Diocesan Shrine of St. Martha and Parish of St. Roch,
Pateros, Philippines, and St. Martha Parish of Kalawaan Pasig.
***
Roman Catholic Diocese of Imus:
* Australia:
**
Strathfield, New South Wales
Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...
* Anglican Communion:
**Canada:
***
St Mary and St Martha in
Toronto, Ontario
** England:
***
St Martha-on-the-Hill
St Martha's Hill is a landmark in St Martha in Surrey, England between the town of Guildford and village of Chilworth. It is the 18th highest hill in the county and on the Greensand Ridge, in this case at the closest point to the North D ...
in
Surrey
***
Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire
** United States: St. Martha's Episcopal Church in:
***
Papillion, Nebraska
Papillion is a city in Sarpy County in the state of Nebraska, United States. Designated as the county seat, it developed as an 1870s railroad town and suburb of Omaha. The city is part of the larger five-county metro area of Omaha. Papillion's ...
***
Bethany Beach, Delaware
Bethany Beach is an incorporated town in Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 Census Bureau figures, the population of the town is 1,060; however, during the summer months some 15,000 more populate the town as vacationer ...
***
Lexington, Kentucky
***
Saints Martha & Mary, Eagan, MN
*
Saints Mary & Martha, Buford, GA* Methodist:
** St Martha's Methodist Church in
Tring, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
* Lutheran:
** St. Mary and St. Martha Lutheran Church,
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, United States
Legends and myths
Golden Legend
According to legend, St. Martha left
Judea after
Jesus' resurrection, around AD 48, and went to
Provence with her sister
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also call ...
(conflated with
Mary Magdalene) and her brother Lazarus. With them, Martha first settled in
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune ha ...
(now in France). The ''
Golden Legend'', compiled in the 13th century, records the Provençal tradition:
Saint Martha, hostess of our Lord Jesus Christ, was born of a royal kindred. Her father was named Syro and her mother Encharia. The father of her was duke of Syria and places maritime, and Martha with her sister possessed by the heritage of their mother three places, that was, the castle Magdalen, and Bethany and a part of Jerusalem. It is nowhere read that Martha had ever any husband nor fellowship of man, but she as a noble hostess ministered and served our Lord, and would also that her sister should serve him and help her, for she thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.
After the ascension of our Lord, when the disciples were departed, she with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary, also Saint Maximin actually a 3rd-century figure">/nowiki>actually a 3rd-century figure/nowiki> which baptized them, and to whom they were committed of the Holy Ghost, and many others, were put into a ship without sail, oars, or rudder governail, of the paynims, which by the conduct of our Lord they came all to Marseilles, and after came to the territory of Aquense or Aix, and there converted the people to the faith. Martha was right facound of speech, and courteous and gracious to the sight of the people.["The Life of Saint Martha"](_blank)
, text from the '' Golden Legend''.
The ''Golden Legend'' also records the grand lifestyle imagined for Martha and her siblings in its entry on Mary Magdalene:
Mary Magdalene had her surname of Magdala, a castle, and was born of right noble lineage and parents, which were descended of the lineage of kings. And her father was named Cyrus, and her mother Eucharis. She with her brother Lazarus, and her sister Martha, possessed the castle of Magdala, which is two miles from Nazareth, and Bethany, the castle which is nigh to Jerusalem, and also a great part of Jerusalem, which, all these things they departed among them. In such wise that Mary had the castle Magdala, whereof she had her name Magdalene. And Lazarus had the part of the city of Jerusalem, and Martha had to her part Bethany. And when Mary gave herself to all delights of the body, and Lazarus entended all to knighthood, Martha, which was wise, governed nobly her brother's part and also her sister's, and also her own, and administered to knights, and her servants, and to poor men, such necessities as they needed. Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things.
St. Martha in Tarascon
A further legend relates that Martha then went to
Tarascon
Tarascon (; ), sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune situated at the extreme west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Inhabitants are referred to as Tarasconnais or Taras ...
, France, where a
monster, the
Tarasque
The Tarasque is a fearsome legendary dragon-like mythological hybrid from Provence, in southern France, tamed in stories about Saint Martha, such as the one told in Jacobus de Voragine's ''Golden Legend'' (13th century).
The tarasque was desc ...
, was a constant threat to the population. The ''Golden Legend'' describes it as a beast from Galatia; a great
dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, that dwelt in a certain wood between
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
and
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune ha ...
. Holding a cross in her hand, Martha sprinkled the beast with holy water. Placing her sash around its neck, she led the tamed dragon through the village.
[
There Martha lived, daily occupied in prayers and in fastings. Martha eventually died in Tarascon, where she was buried. Her tomb is located in the ]crypt
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...
of the local Collegiate Church.
The dedication of the Collegiate Church at Tarascon to St. Martha is believed to date from the 9th century or earlier. Relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
found in the church during a reconstruction in 1187 were identified as hers, and reburied in a new shrine at that time. In the Collegiate Church crypt is a late 15th-century cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
, also known as the Gothic Tomb of Saint Martha. It is the work of Francesco Laurana
Francesco Laurana, also known as Francesco de la Vrana ( hr, Frane Vranjanin; c. 1430 – before 12 March 1502) was a Dalmatian sculptor and medallist. He is considered both a Croatian and an Italian sculptor. Though born in the territory of t ...
, a Croatian sculptor of the Italian School, commissioned by King René. At its base are two openings through which the relics could be touched. It bears three low reliefs separated by fluted pilasters representing: on the left, Saint Martha and the Tarasque; in the center, Saint Mary Magdalene borne aloft by the angels; on the right, Lazarus as Bishop of Marseille with his mitre and staff. There are two figures on either side: on the left, Saint Front, Bishop of Perrigueux, present at the funeral of Saint Martha, and on the right, Saint Marcelle, Martha's servant.
St. Martha and Villajoyosa
The town of Villajoyosa
La Vila Joiosa () is a coastal town and municipality in the Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. The town is known to the locals simply as La Vila.
It is the historic and administrative capital of the ''co ...
, Spain, honors St. Martha as its patron saint and celebrates The Festival of Moors and Christians annually in her honor. The 250-year-old festival commemorates the attack on Villajoyosa by Berber pirates led by Zalé-Arraez in 1538, when, according to legend, St. Martha came to the rescue of the townsfolk by causing a flash flood which wiped out the enemy fleet, thus preventing the corsairs from reaching the coast.
Gnostic tradition
Martha appears in the sacred gnostic text Pistis Sophia
''Pistis Sophia'' ( grc-koi, Πίστις Σοφία) is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic g ...
. She is instructed by the risen Christ on several of the repentances that must be made in order to have salvation. She also makes several prophetic interpretations of different Psalms.
Depictions in art and literature
The subject of Martha is mostly found in art from the Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) ...
onwards, especially in the 17th century, when the domestic setting is usually given a realistic depiction. However it appears in some Ottonian cycles of the '' Life of Christ''.
* ''Christ in the House of Martha and Mary'' (Velázquez), a 1618 oil-on-canvas painting by the Spanish painter Velázquez.
* ''Christ in the House of Martha and Mary'' (Vermeer), a 1655 painting by Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately suc ...
.
* ''Martha and Mary Magdalene'' (Caravaggio), a 1598-9 painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...
.
Literary works about Martha include:
*''Martha and Mary'', a story in Karel Čapek's ''Apocryphal Tales'' (1932)
*"Saint Martha and the Dragon", a poem by Charles Causley
Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a British poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, espec ...
in his collected works.
*'' The Sons of Martha'' (1907), a poem by Rudyard Kipling.
*In '' The Handmaid's Tale'', the dystopian novel of Margaret Atwood, infertile women forced to be servants for the ruling class are called "Marthas", as their service is considered imitating Martha.
Gallery
File:Saint martha.jpg, Saint Martha from the Isabella Breviary
The ''Isabella Breviary'' (''Ms. 18851'') is a late 15th-century illuminated manuscript housed in the British Library, London. Queen Isabella I was given the manuscript shortly before 1497 by her ambassador Francisco de Rojas to commemorate the dou ...
, 1497
File:Vincentius Bellovacensis Speculum historiale fol 340v détail.jpg, Saint Martha and the Tarasque
The Tarasque is a fearsome legendary dragon-like mythological hybrid from Provence, in southern France, tamed in stories about Saint Martha, such as the one told in Jacobus de Voragine's ''Golden Legend'' (13th century).
The tarasque was desc ...
, from a 15th-century manuscript
File:Saint Martha of Hagonoy, Bulacan, Philippines.jpg, Statue of Saint Martha used in Holy Week Processions at the National Shrine and Parish of Saint Anne in Hagonoy, Bulacan, Philippines
See also
* Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary
Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary (also referred to as Christ in the House of Martha and by other variant names) refers to a Biblical episode in the life of Jesus in the New Testament which appears only in Luke's Gospel (), immediately after ...
* Lazarus of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany (Latinised from Lazar, ultimately from Hebrew Eleazar, "God helped"), also venerated as Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the subject of a prominent sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John, ...
* Mary of Bethany
* Myrrhbearers
In Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition the Myrrhbearers (Greek: Μυροφόροι; Latin: ''Myrophorae''; Slavonic: Жены́-мѷроно́сицы; ro, mironosiţe) are the individuals mentioned in the New Testament who were directly in ...
* Santa Marta de Pateros (Philippine Version)
* 205 Martha
Martha (minor planet designation: 205 Martha) is a large main belt asteroid. It is a dark, primitive carbonaceous C-type asteroid. This object was discovered by Johann Palisa on 13 October 1879, in Pola and was named after Martha, a woman in the ...
References
Further reading
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{{Authority control
Followers of Jesus
Saints from the Holy Land
Order of the Eastern Star
1st-century Christian female saints
Christian saints from the New Testament
Women in the New Testament
Anglican saints
Myrrhbearers